Fernando Alonso has dismissed the most exaggerated concerns regarding the supposedly revolutionary changes to the F1 rules set for 2026.
Now at age 42, having initially retired from Formula 1 following his disastrous McLaren-Honda tenure, Alonso made a comeback in 2021 with the Alpine team, attracted by the new 'ground effect' regulations introduced in 2022, hopeful for more victories.
"I planned to do those two years and see how things went with the 2022 regulations," he shared with the Spanish sports newspaper Diario AS before his upcoming home race.
"I felt very good in 2021 and 2022, so I renewed for 2023. That went exceptionally well and now in 2024 I am still strong and motivated, and I am curious now to test the 2026 cars," added Alonso, who is currently with Aston Martin.
"It was not my original idea when I returned to Formula 1, because if I didn't feel 100 percent or so comfortable, Alpine would have been my last team."
Amid the recent unveiling of the preliminary chassis regulations for 2026, which must be set in stone by the end of the month, there has been significant concern from some teams and drivers regarding how the combination of the cars and the new, more powerful electric power units might detrimentally affect the quality of racing.
Alonso acknowledges that the rules are imperfect and overly technical.
"For sure, but it's the nature of F1," he commented. "What I would like would be more design freedom, as all cars today are very similar to each other."
"There is little inventiveness, so if you start a regulation (period) the wrong way, you have to drag it to the end. But when I was a kid, F1 cars were very different. One had a high nose, one had a low nose, another had six wheels. Now that creativity has been lost and I would like to see more of it."
Nevertheless, he does not share the intense apprehensions of some prominent F1 personalities.
"Not excessively (alarmed)," he told the newspaper. "I don't think it's a radical change."
"It is going to be sold like that, because F1 sells the idea that every four or five years, it totally reinvents itself. But in truth, F1 is always very similar."
"But the new rules attract other manufacturers like Audi, there was also interest from other engine manufacturers and so I see that it was done out of commercial interests. But I don't think the racing, the weekends or the competitiveness of the cars will be revolutionised," stated Alonso.
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